Improvement in electric ship-alarms



Y l. B. ANDREWS. Electric Ship-Alarms.

l iMPRovEMEN'r IN ELEc'rnic SHIP-ALARMS.

or New YORK, mr]

` Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 146,421, dated January 13,1874 `application filed .i

November 6, 1873.` i

To alwhom it may concern: y A Beit known that I, JAMES ANDREWS, of New York city, of N ew York county, in the State ot' New York, have invented an Alarm for Indicating Changes in the Course of a Ship;

and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

As in the construction and management of ocean steamers every appliance or apparatus whichcan contribute to safety is of vital importance, it` will be understood that any means which will automatically and with certainty not only'indicate at all times the course which thcship is pursuing, but will operate independy ently of the steering-compass and pilot, acting asa perfect check on the latter, and giving an alarm the moment the ships course variesor is changed, must be of great utility.

It frequently occurs that the steering or `guidance of the ship has tolbe intrusted to some person under orders from the captain as to the course to be pursued or the 4precise i points of the compass to which the ship is to be kept, and under such circumstances there is no possible means nowknownor used by which the captain during his absence (for nec-` essary rest, for instance) can know of any change which may occur in the` direction of the ships progress-that is to say, it is utterly impossible for him to know in what course the ship is sailing without consulting the compass,

. or whether or not the ship is kept in the ordered course, or allowed by lack of diligence on the part of the pilot to vary therefrom, or has her course purposely changed for some good but unanticipated reason.

i `My invention has for its object to provide the ship with some means by which the capany change in the ships course. i i V.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention,`I will `proceed to fully i `describe the construction and operation of `an 1appara-tus which I have constructed and used i in carrying out my invention, referringbyletters tothe accompanying drawings, in whichi ship will cause the needle to move acircuit linaking and breaking device and start an elec` tric bell, will instantly denote, by analarm,

Figurel is a side elevation; Fig. 2,]a top View; Fig. 3, a vertical section at :c w, Fig. 2

Fig. 4, a partial vertical sectioiratyyfFig.

3; and Fig. 5, a detail sectional view 'at .e e', Y

Fig. 4.

In the several iigures the same part will be found designated by the same letter of reference. .l

A represents a box or case, which may be made of any size and design, and which serves merely for the attachment to it and thesup` port of the different parts of the machine or apparatus, which consists of an ordinary cour pass, B, which is supported in the upper part of the case A, insuch a manner that its body can be turned,and which has attached to it, so as to depend from its under side, aframework, C, in which is carried an ordinary galvanicbattery, D, the wires from thepoles of which are connected to anelectric bell, E, and' adevice, which will presently be4 described, located between the battery and bell, and which is act` uated by the needle of the compass, to make and break the circuit of the battery.` The compass body or case B is provided with an annular surrounding rim-piece, F, whichrests and i 'ridest'reely on four,more or less,supporting wheels, a, hung on the inside ofthe box A,.

and which are so grooved as to assist in the retention in proper' place of thesaid `rim F, which is held or retained from above by shoe pieces or lugs b. The upper edge of the rim' F has gear-teeth cut in it with which mesh the teeth of a spur-pinion, {Z}

vided with a knurled hand-wheel, H, which can be readily operated with thethnmb and iinger.

The pendent frame-work @referred to, isicom-f posed of four rods, attached at their upper ends to the'compass-case B, and carrying` at their lower ends a shallow box or case,`I, in which i mounted on one i side of the box A, and having its shaft proi is set and heldl the battery I).- This battery may be of any proper form and character iory the magnets inside and the bell outside, as il-Y lustrated. Its precise location is, of course, not materiall so long as it is properly placed to be connected with the battery, and so that the bell will bey heard. On the frame-work C is secured a cross bar or stand, L, to which are secured the parts constituting the circuitmal;-

ing and breaking mechanism, and which is made and operates as I will now explain: On the stand M is pivotedk (at c) a vert-ical oscillatory arm, O, the upper portion of which passes up into the compass-box, and is so bifurcated atvits extremity as to straddle the wire l of the compass-needle, and the lower f portion or leg ot which is cut out, as seen at c,

Fig. 3. On the stand N is pivoted (at f) another smaller oscillatory arm or bar, P, ar ranged about parallel with the arm O, and formed with a projecting port-ion, g, that passes through the opening e in arm O, so that two set-screws, i fi, in the arm O will come in contact with said portion g of arm P to effect the movement ot the latter, as will be presentlyT explained. The top of the arm P is curved like a rocker, and has placed in it an insulating-block, s, and on top of this rocker-like por tion ot arm P rests one end of a spring-bar, Q, the' other end of which is fastened in the stud l, to which is also connected one of the wires y K of the battery. One of the wires K passes from' one pole of the battery directly to the al arm-bell device, and the other ru'ns from said bell back to the stand N, to which it is connected, and from the stud lpasses a short wire to the other pole of the battery. Thus the circuit is formed through the stand N, its arm P, the spring-bar Q, and stud I; and by means of an insulation of the arm P from the springbar Q this circuit is broken, as .I will now explain. Immediately on top ofthe arm P is arranged the insulating block or pad s, upon which rests the end of spring Q, so that when the parts are in their normal condition or positions the circuit is broken or interrupted at s, and the bell is inoperative.

As the needle of the compass always maintains the same position, it follows that any change in the relative positions ci said needle and the upper end of the arm O must arise from a change in the position of said arm, or, in other words, must arise from some change in the position of the ship. Y

The moment any such change in the relative positions of the needle and ship occur, the bia t'urcated upper end of the arm O comes in contact with the wire d of the compass or compaSsneedles, and, as the tendency of the said wire, being connected to the needles, is to maintain its given or normal position, and the arm O is so adjusted as to be moved by a very deli cate force, it follows that the said arm O, by its contact withthe wire d, is ifibrated in one or the other direction, and the moment this arm is so vibrated the arm P is moved in one or the other direction by the set-screws i i oi' 'arm O coming against and pushingy the por tion g, and the insulator s moves from under the end of spring Q, permitting said bar Q to come in contact with the upper rocker-like face of the arm P, and thus form or complete the circuit through the said arm P, bar Q, stand N, and stud l, as before mentioned, whichwill instantly start the alarm-bell. Thus, by any deviation in the relative positions oi' the ship and compass from that to which the apparatus may have been adjusted or set, will the electric bell be set going to give an alarm ot' such change. It is to permit the adjust ment ot' the apparatus so that the ship and compass can maintain any given relative position without any opera-tion of the alarm that the compass box or case, from which is susn pended the battery and circuit making and breaking mechanism, is so mounted and arranged with the rim F F and pinion G that the whole fixture can beset or moved to that position relative to the compass in which the wire l will not come in. contact with the upper bifurcated end of arm 0.

From the description. given, it will be understood that, in the use of my invention, the operation is simply this, viz: Vhen it is desired to check the pilot, or insure a warning of any change in the ships course, the appa ratus is so adjusted or set, by turning the pinion G, that the arm 0 will balance on its pivot,

out of contact with, and unaffected by, theneedle of the compass. The moment any changetakes place' inv the course of the ship,

the upper end of arm o comes in contact with the unchangeable wired of the needle; said arm is slightly vibrated on its axis of oscillation, and turning with it the arm P, the cir cuit of the battery is completed and the electric bell started.

In carrying out my invention, various modications may be made, such, for instance, as the use of a'ditferent battery, a different alarm bell or device, and the breaking of an electric circuit, to start 'some sort of an alarm apparatus, in lieu of making the circuit, as de.

scribed, and other changes, without departing from my invention, the gist of which 1s in the idea of combining with the magnetic needle any suitable mechanism which, when the pol sition of the ship changes, will be influenced by the needle to start an alarm, or indicate such change.l

It' it should prove practicable to employ, in connection with the needle of the compass, some sort of mechanism which could be eil fected to start an alarm without the interpoa sition or use of an electric current, then my invention could be practiced without the employment of any battery at all.

It is the magnetic needle, of course, and the -the spirit of my invention.

utilization oi" its fixed tendency to remain in a given position, which is the essentlal feature `of the compass used, and Without the other` to readjust the apparatus to break the circuit,

or by restoring the alarm1 apparatus and needle"`to their former relative positions, observe, by the compass, the changed course of the ship.

As it is often the case that it is impracticable to keep the ship steadily in a given course or path of progress, and as it may not be desirable to have the alarm started at every slight deflection from a straight path of m0- tion of the ship, I employ the set-screws z' i, between the ends of which the projection g of a-rm l? is located; and I turn these set-screws nearer toward, or farther from, the part g, according to the amount of play or motion which it may be desired. to permit in the arm o, Without the latter aifectin g the arm I), Which makes and breaks the circuit.

In lieu oi' these set-screws and thismethod of permitting any certain amount of motion or deflection ofthe ship (in heavy Weather, for instance) Without putting the alarm into operation, any other proper mechanical contrv ance may be `used adapted to this purpose, and any suitable mode of attaining the described object, in this particular, may, of course, be adopted, Without departing from If i'ound expedient or advisable, some suitable means may be employed by which it can be observed, from the deflection of the arm o from its normal vertical condition, just When and how much the course of the ship is changed and it Will be understood th at, in practicing my invention, many modifications and additions may be found advisable, the expediency of which can be determined by experience and a comparatively long and practical test of the apparatus.

Any and all such changes and additions as may, however, prove desirable, must depend upon the principles of construction and operation which I have explained as constitutin the gist of my invention.

Having nonr so fully explained my invention that those skilled can understand and practice it, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In combination with a magnetic needle or bar, suitable means adapted to be influenced by any change in the relative position of said needle with the ship, and an alarm device for denoting such change, substantially as `llereinbei'ore set forth.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 24th day of October, 1873.

JAMns n, Annnnivs. [ns1 In presence of A. Asonnn,

JACOB FELBEL. 

